A novel concept for high altitude wind energy generation

A novel hybrid-kite (HK) for harnessing powerful and persistent high altitude winds is proposed. The surface of HK constructed of an array of small units. Each unit consists of four rotors and two generator can captures wind power and converting to electrical power while its drag coefficients is controllable. A conductive tether anchors the kite to the ground station for both transmission of generated electrical power by the units and driving a ground-based generator. Spit of conventional kites, due to construction of surface of HK with such units, it not required to change the kit´s pith angle to control its drag coefficient, results in a liner flying path and elimination of crosswind motion. In ascending phase of the HK, units are controlled to have maximum drag to provide pulling force to drive the ground-bead generator. But in the descending phase, the units generate power with minimum drag coefficient. Estimation of electrical output power of the proposed kite is presented using parametrical approaches. A small prototype was constructed and tested, and the obtained results are compared with predicted data. Also, estimation of a HK with area of 150m² is predicted and compared with extract power with a conventional kite with same area.